Wringer guard



Patented Oct. 7, 1930 Unirse srres PATENT oFFicE FRED V. LASUER, F SIOUX CITY, IOWA Application fried May 14,V

My invention has to do with protective guardsfor wringers and has for its object to provide a guard of the type employing an endless belt conveyor to feed the clothes to the h wringer rolls.

An object of my invention is to provide a wringer guard of this general classification wherein the guard frame is so hinged to the wringer frame that it may be swung upwardly to a position fully disclosing therolls in order that access to the rollsv may be quickly had when necessary. i

A further object of my invention is to provide a wringer guard oi' this nature employing a single conveyor belt and a vertically `slidable guard plate, coacting with said conveyor belt in such a manner as to cover ama- `iority of the `space ahead of the wringer rolls.

`Another object is to provide such a wringer guard havinga beltand a guard plate, the latter' being mounted on a member `which is hinged to the guard frame on the same axis upon whichthe guard iframe is hinged to the wringer, whereby not to interfere with the upward swinging ofthe guard frame. Y

Another object of my invention is to provide an arrangement such as is mentioned in the last paragraph, wherein Ythe member which carries the guard plate and the guard frame may be urged to -their normal positions, by a singlespringjconnected between them. V y Y Another object of my invention is to provide sucha guard having a drive adapted to be engaged or disengagedfroin a moving part of the lower wringer roll upon lowering or raising the vguard frame, respectively, whereby to automatically cut off the drive to the conveyor belt upon raising of the guard `frame. f

With these :and other objects in view, my invention consists ,in the construction, ar-

' rangement andcombination of thevarious parts of my device,`whereby the objects con-` teinplatedare attained, as hereinafter more Jfully set forth,pointed out in my claims,

andV illustrateduinxthe accompanying drawings, inwhichf: r

Cil

1928. serial No. 277,476. Y

Y portions of the saine.

Fig is an end elevation of a portion of the wringer with the guard attached.

Fig. 4 is a similar view oi a somewhat modified form of my invention.

F ig. 5 is a fractional view iilusti'ating `ad-` jacentV portions of the wringer, the guard frame and the element which carries the guard plate. l Y

Fig. 6 is a View of a. modified form of wringer mounting.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view illustrating a urther modified form of the same.

I have used the reference character `1() to indicate generally the upper cross frame of a wringer having the side arms 11, an intermediate portion (spring) 12, the upper roll 13 and the lower roll 14.

'The wringer illustrated,.which` is a modernftype wringer,"has onfeither side a pair of opposed flanges 15, provided withV opeiiings 16, in which the hinge studs o'i a common type of wringer.attachment may be re-` ceived. This attachment ordinarily is a table or trough adapted to carry the clothes away from the wringer rolls.

My invention purposes toemploy these openings to receive the guard frame whichV it embodies. i

This guard frame is shown in the drawings as an integral casting having the side arms 17, connected by lower cross bars 18. At one end of each arm 17 is an upwardly projecting ear 19. Y i

A member 2O is provided, which is adapted to support a vertically slidable guard plat-e 21. The member 20 may beef any con-` venient shape extending between the ears 19'and' provided with oiitturned studs 22, received through openingsin the ears 19 and extended into the openings 16 of the'ilanges 1'5 of the wringen In itssimplest form, the member 2O is a U-shaped yoke having the side arms 23,011 the lower ends of which are formed the studs 22 andhaviiig the connecting web 2a adapted to engage some portion of the wringer such as thespring 12.

Where the attachment is constructed for of the wringer frame, the rod being thence bent downwardly to form the arms 21 and thence outwardly in the vertical plane of the arms 21 to form the studs 22.

J ournalled in the side arms 17 are a pair of rollers 26 and 27, over which travels the endless belt conveyor 28. The forward roller 26 is positioned adjacent the lower roll 14 and above its axis so that the upper extremity of the two rolls will be substantially on a level. The roller 26 is considerably smaller thanthe roll 14, thus leaving space for the reception of a rotatable drive element including the two spacedV drive rollers 29, mounted upon a shaft 30, which isv journall-ed in the side arms 17.

'Ihe rollers 29 engage the roller 26 and thevroll 14 when the guard frame is in its normal horizontalposition shown in full lines in Fig. 2. In order to assume sufcient pressurebetween the rollers A29 and the roller 26, the shaft 30 is journalled in slots 31 in the arms 17 positioned at such an angle as to transfer lateral pressure from the roller 14 against the rollers 29 to upward pressure of the rollers 29 against the roller V26 (through the medium of the belt 28). The slot allows the rollers 29 to Vadjust themselves` between the other two rollers.

Instead of the friction drive just described, a gear drive could be employed, such as is illustrated in Fig. 4. The rollers 29 would vbe employed engaging the roller 26 but not engaging the roll 14. On the` shaft 30, a pinion 32 is mounted to engage the lower pinion 33 of the wringer. The pinion 32 will swing into and away from mesh with the pinion 33, as the guard frame is lowered or lifted. Y j.

A roller 34 is ournalled in a pair of arms 35, projecting from the guard plate 21. The

lguard plate 21 is slidably mounted on the larms 23 by means of sleeves 36, formed at the ends of the plate 21 and encircling the arms 23. The sleeves 36 Contact with the ears 19 so as to support the plate and roller with the latter positioned normally a slight distance above the'belt 28, substantially as shown in Fig. 2. As the clothes are fed upon the belt 28 into the rolls of the wringer, the Vroller 34 will ride upon the clothes, pushing the guard plate upwardly kwhen necessary to allow a thicker mass to pass therebeneath.

In order toadd to the pressure of the rollers 29 against the roll 14 and to support the member 2O in its upright position, I provide a spring having a looped portion 37, receiving the stud 22, a hooked end 28 engaging the ear 19 of one of the arms 17, and a hooked end 39 engaging the arm 23. Two springs are preferably employed, one at either side of the device.

The spring 39 might be eliminated and the web 24 secured in any manner to the wringer frame so as to support the member 2O in upright position. A separable fastening should then be employed to lallow the member 2O to be swung downwardly so that access might be had to theV upper roll from above. The spring, however, allows the member 20 to be swung downwardly without unlatching a fastening device and automatically returns it to its normal position when it is released.

It will be understood that it is quite often necessary to have access tothe rolls in order to remove pieces of clothing which have become wound upon the rolls. The hinged mounting of the guardA frame on an axis which is above the plane where the rolls meet allows the guard frame to be swung upwardly so that thel rollers 29, the conveyor 2S and the guard frame will all be entirely removed from the space ahead of the lower roll and the lower portion of the upper roll.

It is,.of course, desirable that the driving of the conveyor belt be stopped when the guard frame is lifted, so that the conveyor belt may not interfere with the hands of the operator while removing portions of'clothing wound about the wringer rolls. Either of the drives shown, wherein the conveyor belt is driven by a rotating element adapted to engage a rotating portion of the lower roll only when the guard frame is down, will accom-- plish this result.

In order to retain the guard frame in its lifted position shown in dotted lines, a latch or hook 40 is provided, adapted to engage one of the flanges 41 formed on the arms 17. A slot 42 may be provided in the flange 41 Vto receive the hook 40.

It is thought to be apparent that the fingers of the operator will be securely guarded from contact with the rolls by my device. The conveyor 28 carries the clothes to the rolls; the guard plate 21 guards the space above the conveyor and the conveyor guards the space ahead of the lower roll.

"In many types of wringers, it will be necessary to employ as attachments a pair of bear# ings such 'as those shown in Figs. 6 and 7. For a wooden wringer, a bearing 40 vmay be employed, secured by screws 41 to thearm 42 of the wringer. Y Forl the metalv type wringer which does not have the integral flanges 15, an L-shaped bracket 43 may be employed having a hooked end 44, ada ted to engage the slot 45 of the side arm o vthe `wringer frame and having anopposed linger 46, through which a thumb screw 47 is thread- 'ed to engage the arm 1l of the wringer. Lugs 49 are integrally formed on. the brackets 43 and provided with openings 50 to receive the studs 22 of the attachmen Some changes may be marde inthe construction and arrangement of the parts of my invention without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention 'to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use ofmechanical equivalents, which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

l. In a wringer guard, a guard frame having a pair of spaced openings, a member having a pair of resilient arms provided with out-turned studs, extended through said openings, and adapted to be received in bearings on the wringer frame, thereby to hinge the guard frame and said member on a common horizontal axis, a guard plate having a vertically slidable connection with said resilient arms7 means to retain 'the said member in a substantially vertical position, and a driven endless belt conveyor supported in the guard frame and adapted to feed to the wringer rolls, the guard plate coacting with said conveyor to close a majority of the space ahead of the rolls.

2. In a wringer guard, a guard frame havinga pair of spaced openings, a member having a pair of arms provided with out-turned studs, extended through said openings, and adapted to be received in bearings on the wringerframe, thereby to hinge the guard frame and said member on a common horizontal axis, a guard plate having a vertically slidable connection with said arms, means to retain the said member in a substantially vertical position, and a driven endless beltV conveyor supported in the guard frame and adaptedto feed to the wringer lrolls, the

lguard plate coacting with said conveyorl to close a majority of the space ahead of the rolls.

3. In a wringer guard, a guard frame having a pair of spaced openings, a member having a pairof out-turned studs extended through 'said openings `and adapted to be received inbearings on the wringer 'frame thereby to hinge the guard, frame and said member on a common-horizontal axis,v a guard plate having a vertically slidable connection with said member, vmeans to retain the said member in a substantially vertical` position, and a driven endless belt conveyor supported in the guard frame and adapted to feed to the wringer rolls,the guard plate coacting `with said conveyorto close a majority of the spaceahead of the rolls.

4. In a wringer guard, a guard frame having a pair of spaced openings, a member having a pair of out-turned studs extended substantiallyupright position, and aspring Y having a connection with a portion of both said member and the guard framey near one of the hinge'joints, said spring serving to urge the guard frame downwardly and the said membertoward the wringer.

In a wringer guard, a guard frame having a pair of spaced openings, a member having a pair of out-turned studs extended through said openingsand adapted to be received in bearings 4on the wringer frame, thereby to hinge the guard frame and said ymember on a ,common horizontal i axis, fa guard plate having a vertically slidablerco'nnection with said member, means to retain the said member 'in a substantially vertical position, a driven endless belt conveyor supported in the guard `frameand adapted to feed to the wringer rolls, theguard plate coacting with said conveyor to close a-ma-j jority of the spacerahead of the rolls, and a roller carried by the guard plat e}atthe lower ledge thereof adjacent the wringer rolls.` D i v .6. In `a wringer guard, `a guardframe adapted to be hinged to a` wringeron a horizontal axis above-the lower wringer roll, an endless belt conveyor including-a pair of rollers and an endless belt mountedon saidfrollers, the forward rollerbeing positioned near the lower wringer roll `above the axis of thelatter and below the axis upon which the guard frame is hinged and a rotatable friction 'drive element supported by the guard frame below `said forward roller engaging a. :portionof the belt which' is fin engagementV with, the forwardv roller and normally held in frictional' engagement with the lower wringer roll by the `weight of the guard frame pulling downwardly about the hinge axis of the latter.

7. Ina wrngerv guard,A a guard i frame adaptedtobe hinged to a wringer on a horizontal axis above the `lower lwringer roll, `an Y endless belt conveyor including a pairof rollers .andan endless belt mounted en said wringer roll, said friction d rive element `being so mounted in the guard frame as to be capable of movement in adirection Vtransverse to its axis toward and from the forward'roller and lower wringer roll and the Weight of the` guard frame serving to urge the friction drive element andtheforward roller into their respective engagements with each other and with the' lower wringer roll.

` 8.` In a wringer guard, a guard frame adapted to be hinged to a wringer on a horizontal axis above the lower wringer roll, an endless belt conveyor including a'pair of rollers and an endless belt substantially the full width of the guard frame mounted on said rollers, the forward roller being normally positioned near the lower wringe'r roll and above the axis of the latter and pair of rotatable friction drive elements spaced apart and supported by the guard frame below said for- Y ward roller in position to normally engage KIQ all

Y Yguardplate frame hinged to saidguard frame 1l' on a horizontal axis, the guard vframe'being adapted to be hinged to thewringer lframe theconveyor below the said forward rollerand'to engage the lower wringer roll, the weight of the guard frame serving to Yurge the friction drive elements into engagement with the lower wringer roll, the forward roller being driven from the drive elements and rolls, means adapted to hinge said guard plate frame to the guard fralnevand to hinge the f guard frame tothe wringer, said means extending through the guard frame openings and into bearingson the wringerframe, and a guard plate having a vertically slidable connection with 4said guard plate frame.

`10. `In a'wringer guard, a guard frame, aV

guard plate frame hinged to said guard frame on a horizontal axis, the guard frame being adapted to be hinged to the wringer frame on a horizontal axis adjacent4 the wringer rolls and normally projecting outwardly in a substantially horizontal position, the guard plate frame normally projecting upwardly in a substantially vertical position, an endless belt conveyor mounted in the guard frame in a position to carry clothes to the wringer rolls and a guard plate having a verticallyV slidable connection with' the guardplate frame f and adapted to cover a majority of the space aheadof the wringer rolls and above the endlessbelt conveyor. Y

Il. In a wringer guard, 'a guard frame, a

on a horizontal axis adjacent the wringer rolls and normally projecting outwardly in a substantially horizontal position, the guard plate frame normally projecting upwardlyin a substantially vertical-position, an endless belt conveyor' mounted in the guard frame in a position to carry clothes to the wringer rolls, a guard plate having a vertically slidable connection with the guard plate yframe and adapted to cover a majority of the space ahead of the Wringer rolls and above the endless belt conveyor, and a roller carried by said guard plate at the lower edge of the latter adjacent the wringer rolls.

- Signed-this 11th day of May, 1928, in the county of Woodbury and State of Iowa.

FRED V. LA SUER.

Vthe space between said drive elements servlit) 

